


Storm Petals

by cloakedrabbit



Category: RWBY
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, SO MUCH FLUFF, also some other stuff like, did i say fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 03:51:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9159493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloakedrabbit/pseuds/cloakedrabbit
Summary: Just a bunch of Renora prompt requests I receive over on tumblr. Or-Nora was the raging storm; the wind and rain that forced the trees to bend around her. And Ren was the flower, who's petals were strewn about in the wind, dancing as though lost in a dream.





	1. The Great Snow War

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: It started to snow and I’m the only one of our friends who would go outside with you – I soon found out why none of the others would go out in the snow with you when you shoved a handful of snow down my back and declared snow war
> 
> Requested by my beta: Wanderingnova24
> 
> (current age is 7-8)

“Did you guys hear it was going to snow later today!?”

A high-pitched feminine voice startles Ren out of his daydream, and he furrows his eyebrows, pinching the bridge of his nose. Yes, just what he needed; cold weather and ice to further distract him from his rigorous training. He had already heard of the weather predictions, but all he could think about was what he could manage to practice in the confines of his home. It wasn’t like the outside territory, where he had endless room to move about. The orphanage’s cottage wouldn’t give him much space to move, let alone train.

He turns around from where he’s kneeling on his small rug, and notices the voice is coming from another child from his orphanage- Nora Valkyrie. Neither of them had spoken to each other before, but it was almost impossible to live in the village without knowing who she was. Unless you were deaf.

“We should all go sledding at the top of the hill! Come on, guys!” She’s talking to a girl and guy about her age, both who seemed to hang around her a lot. The girl, with long purple hair, scoffs and crosses her arms.

“You’re funny, Nora.” She raises her eyebrows with a grin and looks at the boy, who smiles in return.

“We’ll see you tomorrow.” He says, waving her goodbye and walking in the opposite direction with what Ren would consider a sneer.

Nora, for the first time since Ren has known her, seemed to deflate slightly. But then she recovered just as fast, waving wildly in her friends’ direction as they departed from the classroom. “I’ll meet up with you guys when it starts snowing!” She calls out to them, and Ren doesn’t hear a response.

He had found the encounter rather odd. Those were good friends of Nora’s. They seemed almost… mean with their responses. Upon reflecting, he wonders if that’s just how they talk to each other. He’d probably catch them leaving together later that afternoon, and perhaps even catch sight of them on the hill in the distance, bundled up in their jackets and hats.

Just as predicted, it begins to snow as he starts making his way home. Big, fluffy flakes are falling around him, and the breeze chills his bare arms, spreading goose bumps down his spine. He’s shivering, gripping the straps of his backpack and trying to hurry to get out of the wind. While he’d rather not skip out on training, he figures he’d make an exception today and stay indoors.

One of the leaders in the orphanage lights a fire, and many of the kids gather round and hang out by the warmth. It’s a very chatty evening, and Ren finds himself sitting by the window with a book, feeling the warmth on his right side.

Eventually, something bright and pink catches his eye. He looks out the window and catches Nora walking out of the orphanage with a sled in tow, looking wildly around for her friends. She walks around the general area, and at one point, she flops down into the snow and starts making a snow angel. When she sits up, breath escaping from her lips in wisps of fog, she’s coated in fluffy snow. She finds herself frolicking, leaving the sled off to the side as she dances.

Ren watches her carefully. She’s prancing and spinning and stopping every so often to look around and watch for her friends, a permanent grin fixed on her face. Time continues on, and Ren feels his heart sink as neither of her friends come around the corner. Nora, too, begins to look disappointed, and flops down in the snow on her bottom, drawing her finger across the white canvas of the ground, creating patterns and shapes absent-mindedly.

With a sigh, Ren closes his book with a satisfying thud, and takes one of the sweaters hanging at the front door. He slips out of the warmth of the cottage and into the white world, with a heavy snowfall still cascading around him.

The snow isn’t much use for silence and stealth, so Nora notices him long before he gets near her. The crunch under his boots makes him uncomfortable, and the village feels so bare. He feels exposed. Nora watches his every step towards her, eyes wide.

He continues walking towards her, his hands crossed in front of him to fight the cold, and he doesn’t stop until he’s right in front of her. He holds out a hand to her, and she stares at it.

“You’re Ren.” She says, coming out a bit louder than he expected. He’s surprised she knows who he is, honestly, and he doesn’t really know what else to say.

“You’re Nora.” Is all he can think of.

She grins up at him and takes his hand, pulling herself to her feet. She bounces a bit on her toes, pushing her hat up out of her eyes. “I’ve never heard you speak before! I mean I knew you could- like, I figured we’d know if you couldn’t, but your voice sounds different than I imagined it! I mean, I’ve heard you say things like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to teachers and stuff but it’s so rehearsed and practiced that I don’t even know if that really counts for speaking, you use a different voice when you talk to them, and- oh! Do you have a sled?”

Ren had lost her halfway through her babble, and for some reason, she just kept grinning at him, her hands held up to her chest. It takes him several seconds to register her question, and he shakes his head.

“That’s okay, we don’t have to sled, we can just play in the snow! Have you ever seen a snowfall this heavy before?” She does a little spin, and some of the snow stuck to her back seems to jump off. He looks down at the snow under his feet and tries not to sneer, frustrated at how it sticks to his boots.

“No.” He replies, looking back up at her. She’s still grinning for some reason.

“Hey, what’s that over there?” Her smile drops and she points to something behind him. Anxious, he turns around and scans his surroundings, his eyes flickering back and forth.

“I don’t see-“ He’s cut off when his shirt is pulled back and something cold claws it’s way down his back. He yelps aloud, throwing himself sideways as the snow falls out of his shirt, and Nora begins to laugh hysterically. His breaths come in shivers, reaching his hands behind him to share some warmth where his spine felt icy cold.

“Gotcha!” She said, grinning as she leans down to scoop up more snow. She balls a clump in her hand and chucks it at his face. Reflexes take over and he dodges sideways, one hand fishing out to catch his balance on the ground. Except the snow is cold and slightly slushy, and it sends him slipping forward and onto his shoulder.

Another snowball winds up hitting him in the face and he shakes his head, using his other hand to wipe it off. No wonder her friends didn’t want to play in the snow with her. “Stop!” He demands, frowning. “Stop!”

Nora halts mid-throw, arm raised high, her excited expression fading for a look of hurt. It doesn’t last long, however, because he uses that moment of hesitation to throw a snowball at her, nailing her in the jaw. She stumbles backwards and slips in the slush, landing on her bottom with an audible grunt.

Sprawled out in the snow, the two of them sit there and stare for several seconds before they burst out laughing. They both half-heartedly scoop up more snow amidst their giggles, trying to toss them back at each other, but after a few moments, they run out of breath for it. Nora is laughing so hard that tears are springing in her eyes. She manages to land a snowball at his chest, and he wipes it off, feeling his face start to hurt from smiling so much.

They play in the snow for hours until their bitter cold fingers and toes become numb, and their noses and cheeks are as red as cherries. Ren doesn’t remember laughing this much in his life. Nora nails him with another snowball and he finds himself falling backwards into the snow, his eyes raising to the gray sky above, with little flakes falling all around him.

Nora falls onto her back next to him, and together they ride out the invisible sunset behind the snow clouds, seen only by the atmosphere’s light between the sky and the horizon. When an orphanage leader calls them back in, they bid each other farewell and retreat to their rooms, each continuing to watch the snow outside their windows.

Ren falls asleep smiling.


	2. I Want That Book

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: You’re overdue on this book and I want it so I’m tracking u down
> 
> Requested by my beta: Wanderingnova24
> 
> (current age is 16)

“Sorry miss, the book isn’t here yet.”

“What do you mean it isn’t here? You said it’d be back in by _last week!_ ” Nora flails her arms, a look of exasperation crossing over her face.

“I know what I said,” The librarian sighs, putting another sticker on one of the books in a pile. He shelves one and turns back to her. “The person borrowing it still has it. It’s overdue and they’re going to get charged for it, but there’s not much I can do about this until they return it.”

Nora presses her lips together and crosses her arms, pouting at him. “You don’t have any other copies of it?”

“Nope, that’s the only one.”

She lets out a whine, dropping her arms at her side and spinning around, looking around for half a second before leaning back towards him. “What’s the person’s name?”

He glances up at her. “Nora, I can’t just tell you something like that.”

“Oh, why not??” She asks, her foot doing a little stomp to emphasize her frustration.

“Customer confidentiality. You just have to-“

She squats down and points an angry finger at him. Her jaw is set in place and she talks through her teeth. “Listen here sir, the last book left off on the _worst possible cliff hanger_ to _ever have been written ever._ I need to know that Clara is okay, and I need to make sure the dragon didn’t eat her daughter, and I have to know how Jamison survived the dragon’s attack on the village. I’ve been waiting for _weeks_ to read the next book, and I can’t wait anymore! I’m dying! This is the only library within a twenty-eight hour walk! You gotta help me out here, man!”

He only stares back, completely used to this, and shelves another stickered book. “Nora, I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”

She purses her lips together, staring him in the eye, and crosses her arms. “You’re a tough case to crack.”

“You’re too giggly to take seriously.” And with that, he busies himself in his work, turning away from her.

She rises onto her tiptoes and spins around, pouting to herself as she walks towards the exit, and then stops in her tracks without warning, her eyes widening.

No one is behind the counter. And it’s out of sight of the librarian.

She looks around her, entwining her fingers together, and sticks her nose into the air, confidently walking towards the counter as if she owned the place. Her fingers drum against the counter as she moves, walking towards the computer at the end of the desk. Thankful that it’s unlocked, she falls into the chair and looks for a search bar.

Entering in the book title, she watches the screen come up with the book’s status, telling her it’s currently out. She knows this. Under the status, however, is the information on the person who has the book.

She pulls out her scroll and begins taking the information down, eyes occasionally glancing up in the direction of the librarian to make sure she was safe. Her heart thunders in her chest, but she gets everything down without trouble, including the person’s address, and then walks out the library door with a sly grin on her face.

 

~

 

She decides she’s going to try a polite approach. Every step of the way, she’s rehearsing what she’s going to say. Perhaps pretend to be a part of the library staff, and to tell him about his overdue book, and to go ahead and take it.

However, when she finds herself face to face with the door of the book hoarder, she finds herself angry. She’s shaking as she knocks, chucking out her rehearsed speech and replacing it with something that’ll leave them terrified 

The door swings open, and Nora opens her mouth to lay it on them, but every word in her throat gets caught in silence.

He’s tall. Much taller than her, with long black hair and a thin frame, and his eyes are a gorgeous mixture of purple and pink. She finds herself staring at him, at a loss for words, because _whoah_. She’s wondering how old he is when she looks down and notices something else. _He has the book tucked under his arm_. She finds her eyes drifting to it, her mouth still agape, and she can’t find the words to say or swallow. They just stick to her throat, keeping her from breathing.

“Yes?” He asks, and his voice shakes her to the very core.

“I- I- I-“ She forces herself to swallow, pulling her hand back towards her chest. “Th-the book.”

He looks at her, cocking one eyebrow, before glancing down at the book in his hand. “Oh, are you with the library?”

She feels herself shake slightly. “Y-yes! I mean no! I mean, I’m a friend of the librarian, he wanted me to get the book back for you, I mean, for me, I need the book, I just finished the first book and I needed to know what happened to Clara after she went after the dragon to protect her daughter, and I don’t know what happens next so I talked to the librarian but there’s only one copy of the book and I need it and I didn’t know you had it and you’re overdue- but that’s okay, because sometimes I’m overdue too! Because I don’t have that much time to read outside of training so I can get into Beacon Academy but you don’t really care about that I just need that book to make sure that Clara is okay and to know how Jamison lived at the end since he should have died with the rest of his village in the dragon attack.”

He’s staring at her, blinking several times. Every rehearsed and planned word died the second she forced herself to speak, and she finds herself standing awkwardly at this boy’s door with her ankles crossed and a sheepish grin plastered on her face. He looks down at the book and she notices the bookmark sticking out. It’s nearly at the end.

“What was your name again?” He asks.

Dumbfounded, she bites her tongue, unsure if she even told him in the first place. “Nora. Nora Valkyrie. 

“Well Nora,” He offers her a soft smile, showing her the bookmark. “I can promise you I’m almost done with it. I’ll try to finish it tonight and I’ll drop it off at the library first thing in the morning.”

Her face lights up. “Really?” She bounces on her toes, eyes wide.

He chuckles. “Really.”

Nora is sitting outside the door of the library before it’s even open the next morning, her back against the bricks by the doors. The librarian walks up and stares at her, his key in his hand. “Nora, what are you doing here so early?” He asks, opening the door for her to step in first.

“The person borrowing the book is going to return it today.” She replies with a grin, skipping inside with her trademark grin.

“And how do you know that?” He asks, smiling. He moves to walk inside but stops as another figure approaches. He holds the door open for the lean man with long black hair, and the book tucked under his arm. _The_ book. Nora greets him excitedly and takes the book from him, babbling away about it, asking it how it was, if he enjoyed it, etc. The librarian stares for only a moment before he chuckles and steps inside, switching the sign outside from Closed to Open.


	3. Fake Dating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: I was invited to the wedding of an old friend of mine who I told I had a boyfriend accompanying me to the wedding but I actually don't and she'd hate me forever if she found out I lied I NEED A BOYFRIEND ASAP
> 
> Requested by: Self

There’s a frantic knocking on the door of Ren’s little house, and he dries his hands on a towel to open the door. He figured it was a village leader here to tell him about the current news going on, or if they were going out for another hunt. It could also be his neighbor, who likes to bring him food on rare occasions. The village’s way of watching out for it’s family.

However, he opens the door and finds that it’s neither. It’s Nora, looking wide-eyed and frantic, with her shoulders stiff. “Ren, I need you to be my boyfriend!”

Ren stops drying his hands and stares, raising one eyebrow at her. She doesn’t give anymore context, or say anything else at all. She’s just staring at him, her hands in fists. He finally tosses the towel over his shoulder and looks her over, noticing how frazzled she looks. He’s not really sure how to respond to this sudden outburst. He’s used to Nora saying random stuff, but this was left field for her. “Um?”

She lets out a groan and runs her fingers through her hair, stomping into his house and closing the door behind her with a loud slam. He jumps a bit at the noise, but doesn’t interrupt her. She flops down onto his couch and throws her head back, folding her arm over her eyes to hide them in the crook of her elbow.

“Nora, are you okay?"

“Granite is getting married.” She says, exasperated, and puts her feet up on the table in front of her.

“Good for her.” Ren says with a small smile, walking back into the kitchen where he was baking. He doesn’t really know Granite all that well- but he hears about her from Nora every once in a while. “Why are you upset?”

“Because she invited me to the wedding and she thinks I have a boyfriend and wanted him to come with me to the wedding as my date!” She throws her arms up above her head, gesturing to the ceiling as if it held the source of all her anger. “She always went on about how great her boyfriend- fiancé now I guess- is and kept coaxing me and eventually I told her I was dating someone to get her off my back but now I’m in too deep!” Nora turns over and flops onto her belly, burying her face in a couch pillow. “If I show up without a date she’ll know I’ve been lying and she’ll hate me forever!”

“So you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend at the wedding?”

Nora perks up, sad eyes now excited, and she sits up. “Exactly! Ren, thank you for being so understanding. You have a suit right? Of course you do, you wore one to that big event earlier this year. I’ll wear a dress that matches the color.” She stands up, walking towards the house door, babbling the entire way. “The wedding is in four days, at 6 o’clock on the dot, meet me at my house at 5:30 and we’ll walk over together. Don’t forget to wear cologne! It’s a very fancy event, and we want to smell good so we leave a good first impression. Ren, you’re the bestest friend anyone could ever ask for. I’ll see you then!”

The door slams shut. Ren is left standing in the kitchen door, wondering what just happened, and how it managed to happen within the span of thirty seconds.

Nonetheless, four days later, at 5:15, he’s staring at himself in the mirror, clad in his only fancy suit and looking at his scroll for the time. He knows he should head out soon, but he feels his stomach give a slight churn. He was going to a wedding with Nora as his date. Granted, it was a fake date, and Nora was only doing it to keep her reputation with Granite.

He had absolutely no idea how this was going to pan out.

At 5:30, he knocks on Nora’s door, and she throws it open, grinning at the sight of him. “Look at you, all dressed up!” She cries out, running forward and giving him a bear hug. “Thank you for doing this for me, Ren.”

He returns the hug and pats her on the back of her head, acknowledging her thanks silently. She pulls away and jumps on the stones leading up to her door, skipping forward several feet before stopping and waiting for Ren to join her side.

The walk over is, for the most part, quiet, which is very unusual for Nora. Ren finds himself looking over at her several times just to make sure she was still there, walking next to him. When the house shows up in their field of view (it was plainly obvious with the large crowd of people surrounding the yard), Nora suddenly reaches out and grabs Ren’s hand. He gives her a questioning glance, but she just smiles and says, “Gotta make a good first appearance, right?”

Ren feels his cheeks grow red, but it’s easy to hide behind his long, unruly hair.

When they enter the house, Nora lets go of his hand to talk to some friends of hers. He hovers by her shoulder, watching the party with a lack of interest. He was never a fan of big get-togethers. Too many people and too much commotion. Without Nora, he wouldn’t have thought twice about not going.

“How long have you two been dating?” Someone asks, and Ren’s attention is pulled back to Nora’s conversation.

“Oh, y’know, a couple weeks or so.” Nora blushes, grabbing Ren’s hand and pulling him closer. Their arms brush against each other and Ren’s heart gets a little faster in his chest, though nothing on his face gives it away. Surprisingly enough, Nora doesn’t go out on a tangent about it. She leaves it simple and sweet.

“Aww good, we always thought you two would be cute together!” Another one chimes in, and Nora laughs, but Ren doesn’t miss the redness that rises in her cheeks. She must not have been expecting a comment like that. Frankly, Ren’s just surprised that people here know who he is. He doesn’t go out of his way to talk to that many people in his village outside the fighters and hunters.

The rest of the conversations go smoothly enough. They all take their seats for the ceremony after a short amount of time, and they go through the speeches and vows. Ren can see Nora smiling ear to ear out of the corner of his vision, and she leans her shoulder against his with a sigh as Granite and her husband smile at each other.

“It’s so romantic.” Nora whispers to him under her breath, reaching a hand around to take his. He’s a little taken back at this, since no one’s really looking at them. There’s not really a reason to do anything right now to keep up their image, as everyone’s watching the bride and groom like hawks with grins on their faces.

Nonetheless, he curls his fingers around her hand and squeezes. He’ll admit, it is pretty romantic.

At the reception, they find their names on the dining tables and sit down. Nora finds herself in mindless chatter once more, conversing with friends of hers about random topics and subjects. When Granite comes into view of the room, her purple hair now in loose curls, Nora gasps and reaches for Ren’s hand, squeezing it. “There she is!” She hisses silently, pulling him to his feet. Practically dragging him, she leads him over and calls her name in the crowd.

When she hears her, she whirls around and opens her arms. “Nora, hey!” Granite greets, giving her a big hug.

“Congratulations, girl!” Nora exclaims, bouncing on her toes and pulling back, reaching back and grabbing Ren’s hand.

“Thank you, Nora! Heya!” Granite turns her head to Ren, still smiling.

Nora interjects. “Oh, let me introduce you to my boyfriend! Granite, meet Ren. Ren meet Granite!”

“Hello.” He says as politely as he can, holding a hand out to her. Granite shakes it, smiling wide and giving Nora a side glance. She mouths something to her that Ren can’t quite catch, but it makes Nora cling to his arm and bump her head against his shoulder affectionately. Granite’s eyes look him over several times before she pats him on the shoulder and nods.

“It is very nice to meet you, Ren. Having a good time?”

“Yes.” He replies.

"Good food?"

"Yes."

“Not much of a talker are you?” Granite laughs, putting her hands on her hips. Someone else approaches her from the side and puts their hand on her shoulder, politely waiting for her to finish her conversation with them.

He’s not really sure what to say to that, so he just shrugs as Nora giggles next to him. Granite takes that as an opportunity to tell them to enjoy the rest of the party, and then turns away to the others, greeting them with a wide grin.

“Well that wasn’t so bad. Right Ren?” She grins up at him, clinging to his arm. 

“Right.” He agrees without looking at her, because now his blush is painfully obvious, and Nora’s smile is adorable, and her grin could light up the entire room, and he very, very much wants to kiss her right now.

_What?_

He surprises himself with his own thoughts, and his brain had successfully whisked him away from the moment. He’s standing in the middle of a crowd feeling very, very vulnerable and terrified, but Nora squeezes her grip on his arm, anchoring him back into reality, and somehow, everything feels okay again.

Music begins to play louder overhead, and the dance floor in the middle of the room lights up. People began to flock towards it, dragging their partners and family with them to dance. “Ren, come on, let’s dance!”

The stiff shoulders return, but there’s no chance to turn her down, because she’s already dragging him towards the flashing lights and when she turns around, there are stars in her eyes.

And so they dance.

 

~

 

They leave the wedding hours into the night time. Nora has her arm through his, with her head leaning on his shoulder. She’s giggling and babbling about something out of his comprehension, and he just glances down at her every once in a while to look at her sleepy eyes.

When they get back to her house, she lingers on his arm. “Ren?”

“Mmm?” He hums, his own eyelids becoming heavier. 

“Thank you. For tonight.” She whispers.

They don’t speak. They stare at her door, eyes tired, with her arm still holding onto him tightly. When she lets go, he feels a chill crawl up his spine, and a negative, cold feeling washes over him without her there.

She takes one step forward before she spins around on her feet, meeting his eyes. She opens her mouth as if to speak, and Ren just watches her, unable to pull his eyes away. He should do something. He should hug her. He should-

Nora reaches up, cupping his cheeks, and pulls him down to her level to peck her lips against his.

Startled, his arms raise slightly with tension. The kiss doesn’t last more than half a second, but Nora is still holding his face, and her eyes are wide, and the stars are sparkling in them, and her hair is messy from a long night, and Ren reaches for her face and leans down again, kissing her once more. This time, it lasts a few more precious moments, both of them lost in the static with their eyes closed.

When they pull away, their eyes are half-lidded, staring at each other as if they were their whole world, and it physically pains Ren to pull away and stand back up to his height. Nora smiles softly, reaching behind her to grab her doorknob.

“Have a good evening, _boyfriend_.” She teases softly.

“You too, _girlfriend_.” He replies, and a fuzzy feeling follows him all the way home.


End file.
